Love to update your loved ones with your daily activities? There’s Facebook. Love to make witty commentaries to share with your followers? You’ve got Twitter. Love to take pictures to present to the world? Instagram is your friend. Love to lose your job? Thank you, social media. Wait—what?
It’s true. If you’re not careful enough, whatever you post on your social media accounts can be the reason for you getting fired or not getting the job at all if you are just starting an application. Think this is an exaggeration? Here are 10 social media booboos that will transform you from being a social junkie to a jobless grumpy.
Accepting Facebook Friend Requests from Current Co-Workers
If your Facebook account is the avenue where you post your social itinerary or your “safe” place to vent or rant about anything under the sun, think twice before accepting any friend’s requests from your work. Otherwise, whatever you post on your wall—yourself clad in a skimpy bikini or a subtle anti-office policy comment—can be used against you. Even if you delete the post immediately, if a co-worker saw it (or worse, screen-capped it), you’ve got some explaining to do the next time you go to work.
Updating Your Status while at Work
This is a big NO even if the company you’re in doesn’t restrict Facebook or any other social media sites. Unless your update is sanctioned by the office or approved by your immediate superior or the Human Resource department, don’t even think about it. Updating your status during work hours implies that you’re either not doing your work or you don’t comply with office etiquette.
Posting about Your Job Offer
There’s a reason why companies usually include the salary clause where an employee can’t disclose his/her salary to others. Other than legal reasons, it’s mainly to avoid comparison. When you post your job offer or salary online, you’re not just committing something unlawful, but you can be perceived as an annoying bragger.
Too Much Information
So you think you hit the jackpot with your partner’s sexual prowess. Good for you. But you don’t need to tell the world about it. Sharing sexual information with friends is tricky enough to do (unless you’re part of a group ala-Sex and the City), oversharing intimate details that can be read by the entire office can win you a one-way ticket to the HR office.
Complaining About Your Boss
Even if there’s something legit to complain about, don’t do your ranting online. Twitter is bursting with rants, vents and complaints about immediate superiors, board of directors or even CEOs. Even if you treat the rant as a blind item or you don’t name names, online nitpicks against your boss is still unethical and are grounds for termination. If you really need to file a complaint, do so in a proper, legal manner.
Making Fun of Your Clients
Your company’s bread and butter is its clients. In essence, they’re the ones who make it possible for you to get a monthly salary. Bad-mouthing or making fun of a client can trigger different responses. You can get a memo or an earful from your boss, or worse, your company may lose the client and/or he or she may sue the company (and you) for defamation.
Posting Nonsensical or Rude Comments
Tasteless and offensive remarks just for the sake of commenting don’t just put your job in a precarious position but will also reveal an awful side of you. Job seekers aren’t saved from this one too because a quick online search done by the hiring personnel can expose crude and uncouth comments in the past.
Nude Photos
Unless you’re working for an adult film agency or you’re a legit porn star, nude photos are off-limits. Some companies even restrict semi-nude photos or provocative images. The thing is, posting nude photos will bite you in the ass (no pun intended) eventually. Not just professionally but in your relationships and personal life, too.
Revealing Company Secrets
Same with your salary, when you sign a job contract, you’re forbidden to share any company secrets. Sharing one or all of them publicly will either earn you an eviction or a visit from the company lawyer. Sometimes, both.
Retweeting or Sharing Posts without Checking the Link
Whatever you retweet or share will have a reflection on you. If you share a link without checking it first, it may contradict your company’s product or service.This can be perceived as fraternizing with the “enemy” and will likely get you reprimanded.
These mistakes don’t restrict you from having and enjoying social media accounts. But as an employee, you have certain responsibilities you must honor and boundaries you must not cross. To make your work and social lives blend seamlessly without any potential trip to the Human Resource department, remember to “think before you click.”